


Come Alive

by casserole365



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Light Angst, Trans Bow (She-Ra)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24902725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casserole365/pseuds/casserole365
Summary: Bow is trans and was assigned female at birth. He grows up knowing that something is different about him and realizes his truth. Eventually, he opens up to his family about his gender and is met with open arms.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Come Alive

Bow was the youngest of 13 children, the final, precious piece of George and Lance’s large family. They had decided on the name Bow because he was the ribbon that tied up the package, the beautiful finishing touch to what they had created, several years in the making. Bow loved his name and it made him feel that much cooler to train as an archer with such a fitting title. A lot changed for Bow as he grew up, but he always knew his name would never be one of those things. 

  
  


\---

  
  


Bow admired his older siblings with an enthusiasm that was unrivaled. He tagged along with them, no matter what they did, no matter how mundane. When his sisters played hide and seek amongst the trees of the Whispering Woods he would find one of them to stick to like a shadow, desperate to be included in their game, despite their groaning that he was too little. When his older brothers sat studiously in the archives, rifling through ancient books and scrolls, being extremely boring, he mirrored their behavior and pulled books off the shelves to thumb through, despite not yet knowing how to read. He loved all of them, and they loved him too. Some of them he didn’t get to know very well as they grew up swiftly and left on their own adventures when he was still quite young. Others, he was much closer with, particularly the two just older than him, Rainn and Willow. The three of them were the best sibling squad and were largely left to entertain themselves as the others entered adolescence and lost interest in childhood games. 

  
  


Despite having a good relationship with all of his siblings, Bow had always felt a unique affinity for his brothers. Every night, in the moments before falling asleep, a time that Bow treasured and felt was magical, he would clench his eyes shut, clasp his hands together, and try to tap into that magic. His intent was to wake up and  _ be  _ one of his older brothers. It didn’t matter much which one exactly, just so that he was. Sometimes, however, when he had a harder time falling asleep, he would thoughtfully identify his favorite quality of each of his brothers and imagine waking up with all of those qualities combined, as a boy. In the mornings he would wake up and hold his breath in anticipation, barely able to contain his excitement that maybe, just maybe, today would be the day that his wish had come true overnight. 

It never did. 

  
  


Eventually, Bow realized that there was no magic and that he couldn’t simply will himself into existence. If he was going to be who he was, he had to make himself come alive. 

  
  


\---

His fathers did not react with anger or disgust when Bow told them who he really was. They had never stopped him from dressing how he wanted to dress, which meant only accepting hand me downs from his brothers, never his sisters. They never gate-kept his access to playing with whatever toys he preferred or encouraged him to do anything his sisters did if he didn’t show an interest. George and Lance loved Bow very much. 

But…

  
  


It was still hard for them. They had spent years thinking of Bow as their youngest daughter, referring to him as such. At first it was difficult for them to understand. Why couldn’t Bow simply continue to pursue his interests, dress however he wanted, love whoever he wanted, but as their little girl? Girls could have short hair and muscles and be archers. There was nothing about being a girl that stopped Bow from living how Bow wanted! Why did Bow have to change? 

“I… I don’t have the words for it, dads…” Bow struggled. “I can’t explain it… I just  _ know _ that I’m a  _ boy _ …” He continued, George and Lance looking at him with concern and care written on their faces, “I know girls can dress however they want and do whatever they want! But… I’m just…  _ not _ a girl. And I’ve never been one.” His fathers didn’t speak and their quietness filled the room. Bow felt like he was suffocating in their silence, terrified about what they would say.

“I’m sorry,” he choked, tears filling his eyes. He couldn’t meet his fathers’ gaze any longer and turned away from them. 

Lance reached out, placing his hand gently on Bow’s shoulder. 

“Bow.. my darling dau-,” he shook his head once, before starting over, “...my darling  _ son _ ,” he smiled softly. “You have nothing to be sorry about. We love you with our whole hearts,” he glanced at his husband, who nodded in agreement, “And we are here for you, no matter what you need. I’m sorry if this might take a little getting used to for us. But we are going to do our absolute best to do right by you.” 

The tears trickling down Bow’s cheeks flowed even harder as he heard his dad say this. He couldn’t stop crying.  _ Why can’t I stop crying? _

George and Lance embraced Bow warmly, not pulling away until Bow’s tears had started to ebb and he began hiccuping softly, like he did after every time he cried hard like that. 

\---

It didn’t take long for George and Lance to hold a family meeting, calling all of their children home for a very important discussion that could not be missed. It took several days for all of them finally to arrive back where they had grown up, deep in the Whispering Woods. 

“Thank you all for being here tonight. It’s so nice to have everyone under the same roof,” George began, standing at his place at the head of their enormous dining table. 

“It wasn’t exactly optional,” Rainn whispered under his breath to Willow and Bow who sat on either side of him. Willow cracked a grin and nudged him in the ribs. 

“So, actually, I don’t have anything to say, exactly, but Bow does,” George finished, slightly flustered at not having prepared for the announcement. 

“Geez,” Bow groaned as all twelve of his siblings immediately shifted their gaze to him. 

“Uh… sure... “ Bow stood up, blushing, “So, the thing is, uh, well-”

“Spit it out Bow,” Rainn teased. “What, are you about to tell us that you aren’t going to take over as the family heir to the library?” 

“What? No! Of course not!” Bow was  _ not _ ready to tell anybody that quite yet. He cleared his throat. 

“I know I haven’t seen a lot of you in a long time and you probably noticed some things have changed with me…” 

Willow was on the edge of her seat, smiling knowingly up at Bow, her eyes were practically twinkling with delight. 

“Anyway, I, uh, I’m not your littlest sister… I never really was,” he paused for a beat before finishing, “I’m your littlest brother, actually,” he attempted a grin, but it came out more like an uncertain grimace. 

Willow leapt out of her chair, unable to contain herself any longer. “Oh, Bow, I love you so much,” she assured him, grabbing him and hugging him tightly. “You’re my favorite little brother.” 

Some of his siblings simply shrugged, unbothered by this revelation, others shot glances at each other, smiling. 

Willow let go of Bow and sat back down, but continued to keep her hand on his forearm, beaming. 

“Dude, I hope this doesn’t come across as rude, but, I knew,” Rainn confessed with a playful smirk. “But thank you for telling us, that’s really awesome, man.” 

“Well, thanks for being cool about it, everyone,” Bow sat back down and his family started busying themselves with passing plates of food around, the noise in the room amplified as conversation grew organically and the siblings caught each other up on their lives.

Lance and George shared a look from opposite ends of the table. At that moment, they both were thinking the same thing. Their dream of raising a large family full of love and joy had come true over the course of many years, and it was even better than they had ever imagined. 

They were so proud of their children, each and every one of them. 

**Author's Note:**

> I think it's important to note that I am trans and that I pulled some inspiration for this fic from my own personal experience. I wanted Bow's coming out experience to be much lighter than my own, so that's why I wrote his fathers' reaction the way I did. I know that it is a lot harder than this for many trans folks, myself included, but we can have a positive coming out story, as a treat.


End file.
